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Over the past two years, people outside the Gulf, have been exposed to the issue of statelessness in the region as the Bedoon (which translates to without in Arabic) communities protest for their rights to education, health, employment, and most importantly, their right to citizenship. The Bedoon of Kuwait have been the most outspoken in the Gulf, protesting in their areas to raise awareness for their plight. More than 230 of them have been arrested and charged with illegal protesting since the Arab Spring started.

Last October, Kuwait witnessed one of the biggest Bedoon protests on the international day of non-violence. In that protest, in Taimaa area, a protester named Abdullatif Ajil Al-Shammari was shot in the eye and is trying right now raising money for a surgery that might save his eye in France. The same protest was mainly organized by prominent Bedoon activist Abdulhakim Al-Fadhli, who is now in Kuwait's Central jail.

Picture of activist Abdulhakim Al-Fadhli in court (posted by @7raak)

According to Bedoon Rights, the activist was arrested after his brother Abdulnasser was taken. The website published this picture of a protest in Taimaa on the 12th of December that called for the release of the Al-Fadhli brothers.

Bedoon protesting for the freedom of the two activists – Bedoon Rights

Jail and Deportation!
According to their lawyer, Bedoon Rights reports that the brothers were taken after a court verdict of “two years in jail and a deportation order” was issued against them. The verdict was made in absentia for case number 357/2012, which accused them of attacking a policeman in a protest last March. The policeman has actually cancelled the case against the two activists but authorities pushed the case to punish the two activists for their leading role in organizing protests in the past two years.

Tweeting about Torture
On December the 13th, Abdulhakim Al-Fadhli's account on Twitter had new updates about the way he and his brother were arrested. Al-Fadhli spoke also of the way they were arrested. It seems that Al_Fadhli is tweeting his ordeal and that of his brother's – from jail.

@Hakeemq80: The thugs of [interior minister] Al-Humood got my brother out of his car, handcuffed him and took him to Sulaibiya police station and tortured him there and beat him to give them information about me.

@Hakeemq80: When my brother Abdulnasser's health deteriorated because of all the torture, AlHumood's thugs took him to the criminal investigations where he was told that he has a two years jail sentence.

@Hakeemq80: They tortured me for not turning myself in and for calling for protests. They told me “we will send you behind the sun” [a police expression in Arabic for threatening extreme punishment]. But I count on you.